Designs Made in the Free Brush Manner

In this article, the author examines the current arts education policies in the United States through the lens of Matthew Arnold's work and prose during his time as one of Her Majesty's School Inspectors in England and Wales in the nineteenth century. Arnold argued for government funding of public school systems, setting standards of quality for teacher education, and many other issues that still affect us today. His passion for a liberal education that included everyone, reinforced by his belief in the moral and humanistic goals that could be reached through an education in the arts, helped open the public schools to the humanities that we teach today. The author provides a valuable overview of what Arnold saw, not only in the English and Welsh schools but also in the French and German approach to education. Finally, the author leaves us with a concise list of what Arnold can teach us today about arts education.     

How neoteny shapes human society: Can we escape our formative years,and fight the wrong kind of populism?

This article describes aspects of our biological nature that have contributed to the dangerous current state of societal, ecological and climatological affairs. Next, it deals with stratagems to take these aspects into account, so as to allow us better choices. I will concentrate on the concepts of evolved group mechanisms and “neoteny” and explain why they direct our responses throughout our lives. The connection between our biological make-up and our vulnerability to the current rise of certain kinds of irrational, undemocratic, populism is also laid bare. I will end by listing some simple, but possibly controversial, proposals that might have value in combating these societal tendencies and help decision making in a reality-based, more scientific, manner.     

Regulatory perspective on in vitro potency assays for human dendritic cells used in anti-tumor immunotherapy

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key connectors between the innate and adaptive immune system and have an important role in modulating other immune cells. Therefore, their therapeutic application to steer immune responses is considered in various disorders, including cancer. Due to differences in the cell source and manufacturing process, each DC medicinal product is unique. Consequently, release tests to ensure consistent quality need to be product-specific.Although general guidance concerning quality control testing of cell-based therapies is available, cell type-specific regulation is still limited. Especially guidance related to potency testing is needed, because developing an in vitro assay measuring cell properties relevant for in vivo functionality is challenging. In this review, we provide DC-specific guidance for development of in vitro potency assays for characterisation and release. We present a broad overview of in vitro potency assays suggested for DC products to determine their anti-tumor functionality. Several advantages and limitations of these assays are discussed. Also, we provide some points to consider for selection and design of a potency test. The ideal functionality assay for anti-tumor products evaluates the capacity of DCs to stimulate antigen-specific T cells. Because this approach may not be feasible for release, use of surrogate potency markers could be considered, provided that these markers are sufficiently linked to the in vivo DC biological activity and clinical response. Further elucidation of the involvement of specific DC subsets in anti-tumor responses will result in improved manufacturing processes for DC-based products and should be considered during potency assay development.     

政府卫生支出对居民健康水平的门槛效应研究

目的 研究政府卫生支出对居民健康水平的门槛效应。方法 利用面板门槛模型进行实证研究。结果 政府卫生支出对居民健康水平存在门槛效应,且具有两个门槛值,随着政府卫生支出占政府财政总支出比例的增加,其对居民健康水平的影响将发生两次变化。结论 政府应继续加大卫生支出,提高卫生支出在财政总支出中的比例,同时,也不能盲目追求卫生支出的高投入,应注重卫生支出使用效率,避免资源浪费。     

Governmental policies on HIV infection in China

This article is a general review of the evolvement of HIV/AIDS-related public policies in China since 1980‘s. It tracks the important laws, regulations and other governmental documents in regard to HIV/AIDS prevention mainly at central level.     

If the Genome isn’t a God-like Ghost in the Machine,Then What is it?

Implicit God-like and ghost-in-the-machine metaphors underlie much current thinking about genomes. Although many criticisms of such views exist, none have succeeded in substituting a different, widely accepted view. Viewing the genome with its protein packaging as a brain gets rid of Gods and ghosts while plausibly integrating machine and information-based views. While the ‘wetware’ of brains and genomes are very different, many fundamental principles of how they function are similar. Eukaryotic cells are compound entities in which case the nuclear genome might best be thought of more as a government than simply as a brain.     

Regulatory perspective on in vitro potency assays for human T cells used in anti-tumor immunotherapy

The adaptive immune system is known to play an important role in anti-neoplastic responses via induction of several effector pathways, resulting in tumor cell death. Because of their ability to specifically recognize and kill tumor cells, the potential use of autologous tumor-derived and genetically engineered T cells as adoptive immunotherapy for cancer is currently being explored. Because of the variety of potential T cell-based medicinal products at the level of starting material and manufacturing process, product-specific functionality assays are needed to ensure quality for individual products. In this review, we provide an overview of in vitro potency assays suggested for characterization and release of different T cell-based anti-tumor products. We discuss functional assays, as presented in scientific advices and literature, highlighting specific advantages and limitations of the various assays. Because the anticipated in vivo mechanism of action for anti-tumor T cells involves tumor recognition and cell death, in vitro potency assays based on the cytotoxic potential of antigen-specific T cells are most evident. However, assays based on other T cell properties may be appropriate as surrogates for cytotoxicity. For all proposed assays, biological relevance of the tests and correlation of the read-outs with in vivo functionality need to be substantiated with sufficient product-specific (non-)clinical data. Moreover, further unraveling the complex interaction of immune cells with and within the tumor environment is expected to lead to further improvement of the T cell-based products. Consequently, increased knowledge will allow further optimized guidance for potency assay development.     

对公立医院“取消编制”政策构建的辩证思考

通过分析公立医院编制人事管理的现况,对取消编制涉及的不同职能医院、区域卫生规划、医院的公益本质属性、医疗人才的培养、配套的养老政策和财政投入做深入思考,认识到受多方面因素影响,在编制改革前期公立医院和政府还需要完善内外部条件才能推进编制改革顺利进行。     

大型公立医院加强科室民主化管理的实践

随着大学附属医院党风廉政建设的不断深入,科室民主管理已成为改善大学附属医院党风廉政建设的重要手段。通过对加强科室民主管理在大学附属医院党风廉政建设中的必要性、现状及存在问题的分析,引发思考,并结合吉林大学中日联谊医院科室民主管理的实践,探寻深化党风廉政建设的有效途径。     

Reading Wacquant as both ‘lumper’ and ‘splitter’

In this short response to Loïc Wacquant's ‘Marginality, Ethnicity and Penality in the Neo-liberal City’, I outline two intellectual conversations that emerge from the author's work. The first develops out of the connections that the author draws between systems of criminal justice and welfare. The second grows out of the disassociation he urges us to see between the logics and trajectories of crime, on the one hand, and criminal justice on the other. I then briefly describe how my own work has been influenced by and contributes to these two ongoing streams of research.